Photo courtesy of DMN Remember when the lines were drawn between sports and entertainment? The two were separate entities. Then there were guys who made the lines flirt with each other. Take the great Jim Brown, the former Cleveland Brown running back who left the NFL to make movies (Lawd!). Oh, and 'Broadway' Joe Namath, the former NY Jets' QB whose nickname, love for the babes and booze, and mink coat spoke volumes until retirement turned him down.
Contemporary issues are blurring those lines more everyday. Today, they're not just flirting. Heck, if I didn't know better I'd say sports and entertainment snuck off to a Las Vegas drive-thru chapel and got hitched.
Exhibit A: Terrell Owens, Tony Romo, and his new boo, pop star Jessica Simpson. Oh, and the pink #9 jersey. Not just in the news, but in the same story.
First reported by a couple of local beat writers from the Dallas Morning News, they said T.O. wasn't joking when he said Simpson took away Romo's focus, and she's not a welcomed sight to fans and [some] players, too. With a pink #9 jersey, the new millennium Daisy Dukes was at Texas Stadium for the Cowboys/Eagles game. Noticing the cameras on her, she stood up to shake her money-makers (boobs), put the jersey on display, and yelled "Romo!" That was a game in which the Cowboys couldn’t score a touchdown to save a life and lost to the Eagles 10-6. Same team Dallas lost to when Carrie Underwood (his former boo) showed up last Christmas.
Ending his sideline chatter with the few reporters who remained, T.O. said "I've got a message for her when we make the playoffs. Stay tuned."
Oh, oh! Even though T.O. has the good sense to know Simpson's not the sole blame for their loss, he said it to make light. But that was like that hot pot of grits Al Green involuntarily took to the body back in the day-smoking hot. World wide websites and printing presses (probably now overheated) couldn't spit it out fast enough. ESPN swallowed it whole and regurgitated it after every commercial break. Don't forget the entertainment news shows.
All that despite efforts of a few of the Dallas reporters there trying to put out the fire on any local Dallas radio station that would listen. That T.O. WAS laughing when he made those comments. It was just all (sound) bite and no bark!
But, we were subjected to this mess for three days.
I guess T.O. ain't allowed to be funny. Other than Michael Irvin, I think this is one Dallas Cowboy receiver who can't pass gas without it being national headline news. Something so humanly common is blown out of proportion when it comes to him.
So, on the fourth day, Thursday, T.O. makes a public apology. Really, the connection between him and Romo is still all good. They need each other. It's almost playoff time. As for Simpson, I don't think T.O. has to worry about helping Romo wipe her weeping eyes. Shoot, he just gave her a multitude of publicity that may (gulp) hike her record sales. Has she put out one lately? Or wait, she might even get away with putting out a remix of "These Boots are Made for Walking."
Jessica, just thank T.O. and all media outlets in advance for any music/video awards you'll stumble upon (and judging from the Macy's commercial, you're pretty good at it) and wish all a very Merry Christmas. And, stay away from the next game in Carolina. And Washington. For the remaining playoff games, allow Jerry Jones' PR staff to locate a nice spot, away from the Stadium, to host a watch party for you and your other family members tagging along for this Ride with Romo.
For the love of NFL, we just wanna watch the damn game!
A non-story which shouldn't have gone that far. In my opinion, it's so not sports journalism/reporting. It's tabloid-ish. A hot ghetto mess. And no you don’t have to be Black to be ghetto. It's a state of mind.
Such minds that'll send sports journalism to hell if we're not careful.
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